Mateo Moreno

Mateo "Cucaracha" Moreno was a Chilean drug chemist who was associated with Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel. He gained his nickname, meaning "cockroach", from the fact that he survived a massacre of fellow drug dealers by the Chilean Army; he was like a cockroach that had survived a nuclear holocaust.

Biography
Mateo Moreno was born in northern Chile, and he decided to become a drug chemist as Chile became one of the largest drug-producing countries in the world. His wife was unaware of his operation, in which he smuggled both cocaine and LSD and dealt them on the streets. Moreno ran his acid operation in the Atacama Desert region, where it was unlikely to be busted, but he stole from his bosses, making himself a target for both fellow criminals and the government. Augusto Pinochet's Chilean Army raided his operation site in 1973 and formed a firing squad to massacre the arrested drug dealers. Moreno survived, as no bullets hit him; he was able to escape from the mass grave. Moreno returned home, showered, and told his wife that he was a narco and had to leave the country, and they packed their belongings and left for Colombia.